Costa Rica

Why the USMNT lost to Costa Rica

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From an American perspective, the loss to Costa Rica was largely blamed on the pre-game injury to Michael Bradley, which crippled the United States Men’s National Team’s ability to maintain possession and win the battle for control of the midfield, but the absence of natural outside backs and a playmaker were equally to blame.

Even without Bradley, the duo of Geoff Cameron and Jermaine Jones was missing a playmaker to link them to attacking midfielders like Graham Zusi, Landon Donovan, and Fabian Johnson, and Clint Dempsey was stranded up top out of position as the lone striker.

This tactical set-up left the United States without any outlet for Cameron and Jones who could feed the attack. In many ways, there was an abyss between Cameron and Jones and players like Donovan, Johnson, Zusi, and Dempsey.

With the injury to Michael Bradley before kickoff, Jürgen Klinsmann would have been wise to use an out and out striker like Eddie Johnson or Aron Jóhannsson with Mix Diskerud linking Cameron and Jones to Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, and whichever striker Klinsmann selected.

Klinsmann received all of the praise for the United States’ 12-game winning streak, so it’s fair to question his line-up decision, which showed an inability to recognize the necessity of a playmaker like Diskerud to link up the defensive midfielders with the attackers.

A wise decision would have been to start a Front Six of Geoff Cameron, Jermaine Jones, Landon Donovan, Mix Diskerud, Clint Dempsey, and Aron Jóhannsson as soon as the injury to Michael Bradley happened.

While Michael Bradley is a defensive midfielder and a strong tackler who covers a lot of territory with tireless running, he has always been a skilled passer and smooth on the ball, and over time, his technical ability has improved to the point that he himself can link the more defensive midfielders to the attacking midfielders.

In many ways, this ability to link up the defense and the deeper midfielders to players like Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan made many people including Klinsmann think that the United States didn’t need a playmaker, but Bradley could still greatly benefit from a playmaker to give him a link between himself and Dempsey and Donovan downfield.

Jürgen Klinsmann chose to not call up Joe Benny Corona, and he chose to not use Mix Diskerud who he did call up. Both of these players could have helped to maintain more possession in the midfield, and the use of Clint Dempsey as a first striker was a truly poor decision. Only Spain plays without a striker at times, but Spain also uses three playmakers at the same time: Xavi, Andrés Iniesta, and Cesc Fàbregas.

With Jóhannsson playing well for AZ Alkmaar and given the fact that he proved his international abilities against Bosnia and Herzegovina, not starting him at first striker with Jozy Altidore still returning to 100% fitness was very misguided.

These problems outlined above are more of the reasons that the United States lost to Costa Rica 3-1 than the play of Michael Orozco at right back, as Orozco was frequently left with no support from Graham Zusi who allowed midfielders to simply run past him and feed passes into space behind Orozco.

Orozco wasn’t even responsible for a single Costa Rican goal. Costa Rica roamed free in the midfield and bossed the game, and this allowed them to put the United States on their heels for the entire game.

One way to look at this game is that when the United States faced the CONCACAF team that was the closest to them in the World Cup qualifying standings, Klinsmann’s makeshift defensive back fours and players like Graham Zusi simply didn’t cut it.

The loss of Michael Bradley before the game was a big loss, but having Cameron, Jones, Donovan, Diskerud, Dempsey, and Jóhannsson as a Front Six could have been enough to still play well even without the Roma defensive midfielder.

Cameron filled in for one of the defensive midfield roles, but Klinsman did nothing to address the problem, which was obvious before the game started: Who is going to connect my defensive midfielders to my attacking players?

The beginning of Jürgen Klinsmann’s tenure as coach of the United States was a time when Klinsmann emphasized how every player in a Starting XI had a unique role to play and that each of his first-choice players needed a quality second-choice option to not only give them competition but also to cover for them if injuries occurred.

An injury to Bradley occurred, and Klinsmann lacked the good sense to either use Dempsey and Donovan to connect the defensive midfielders to a striker like Jóhannsson or Eddie Johnson or to use Diskerud to provide the link to the U.S.’ best attackers.

It was just one loss, but Jürgen Klinmann’s Jericho Walls and his false sense of security have come tumbling down. Klinsmann needs to rethink his tactics, his player selections, and his opinion of playmakers, especially when Michael Bradley goes down injured.

Klinsmann and the United States can still defeat Mexico on Tuesday if Klinsmann selects a more balanced and a better line-up to face Mexico than the one he selected to face Costa Rica, and someone with Klinsmann’s playing resume has to already know that he needs someone to help the American midfield enjoy more possession than it did against Costa Rica.

 

Who Should the USMNT Start vs. Costa Rica?

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The Starting XI that Jürgen Klinsmann would use and the Starting XI that the USMNT should use are two different things.

Just because Klinsmann was an outstanding player doesn’t mean that all of his coaching preferences and decisions are correct. Much of the improvement of the overall play of the United States is due to the continuing improvement of players like Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey, and Jozy Altidore.

Nevertheless, it is possible to make an educated guess about the Starting XI that Klinsmann will use. Tim Howard is the first-choice American goalkeeper, and Klinsmann has essentially stated that he will be using DaMarcus Beasley as a left back.

Predicting the other three members of the Back Four is harder to do because Klinsmann used Geoff Cameron and John Anthony Brooks as center backs against Bosnia and Herzegovina, but before he was starting Omar Gonzalez and Matt Besler.

Klinsmann’s first-choice right back has been Brad Evans, but Evans was replaced by Michael Parkhurst due to injury. Even though Parkhurst was given Evans’ roster spot, Klinsmann could start Geoff Cameron or Michael Orozco at right back.

As the United States is looking to cap-tie John Anthony Brooks to the United States, Brooks could either start at center back or be used as a substitute. Either way, it’s hard to guess which two center backs will start.

Assuming Klinsmann continues to use the 4-2-3-1 formation, Jermaine Jones and Michael Bradley will be used as the defensive midfield tandem, and the assumption has to be that Klinsmann starts Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, and Fabian Johnson as a line of three attacking midfielders behind Jozy Altidore (unless he is still injured).

Klinsmann’s line of three attacking midfielders is set-up to use second strikers and free-roaming attacking midfielders as playmakers, as opposed to starting a playmaker like Mix Diskerud in between Donovan and Dempsey.

There is an additional possibility to consider, which is that Klinsmann could possibly not start Donovan as a right attacking midfielder because he wants to use Graham Zusi who was playing in that position when Donovan was away from the national team.

All of these guesses and assumptions paint the picture of a Starting XI made up of Tim Howard, Michael Parkhurst, Geoff Cameron or Omar Gonzalez, John Anthony Brooks or Matt Besler, DaMarcus Beasley, Jermaine Jones, Michael Bradley, Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Fabian Johnson, and Jozy Altidore or Aron Jóhannsson or Eddie Johnson.

Keeping in mind that Klinsmann could decide to use Cameron or Orozco at right back and that Klinsmann could use a different center back combination, the players above are a safe bet to line-up in a 4-2-3-1 against Costa Rica.

Klinsmann Likely Starting XI is the one below:

Tim HOWARD; Michael PARKHURST, Geoff CAMERON or Omar GONZALEZ, John Anthony BROOKS or Matt BESLER, DaMarcus BEASLEY; Michael BRADLEY, Jermaine JONES; Landon DONOVAN, Clint DEMPSEY, Fabian JOHNSON; Jozy ALTIDORE / Aron JÓHANNSSON.

On the other hand, it’s worth exploring whether or not Klinsmann’s likely XI is really the best one for the USMNT to use.

Firstly, Klinsmann’s likely line-up relies on Dempsey and Donovan, who are free-roaming attacking midfielders or second strikers, to be playmakers, which is not really their strength.

Both players can deliver final balls and set-up goals, but Donovan and Dempsey are best used when played off a playmaker where they are free to look to make runs to get into scoring positions.

In short, both players excel more at getting into position to be on the receiving end of final balls than on actually delivering the final balls.

The problem with the Jones and Bradley pairing is that when one player goes forward, the other player won’t immediately drop back to allow the other player to go forward by himself.

The best policy would be for both players to pick their openings to go forward and as soon as the other one saw that his counterpart was going forward to then drop back to protect the area in front of the defensive back four.

When Geoff Cameron and Michael Bradley were the defensive midfield duo, Cameron simply told Bradley that he would play the deeper and more defensive role so that Bradley could be more involved in the attack.

Cameron seemed to flourish in this set-up because it allowed him to be more involved in the passing play of the United States, and it allowed him to use his athleticism to cover a lot of ground in the midfield.

Cameron was more involved in the game as a midfield destroyer than he was a center back where he was often left with both Bradley and Jones too far up field to provide him with any protection from the opposition’s attackers.

A very strong argument can be made that using Geoff Cameron and Michael Bradley together as the defensive midfielders allows for a more balanced USMNT that also keeps possession better than when both Bradley and Jones are fighting to be more involved in the attack.

Omar Gonzalez and Matt Besler have given many people a false sense of security about the strength of the center of the American defense, when in fact neither center back has really proved themselves against higher-level competition.

Much of the praise of both center backs comes from the United States’ tie with Mexico, but many people seem to forget that both Michael Bradley and Maurice Edu were playing very deep to protect Besler and Gonzalez. It almost looked like the United States was using four center backs against Mexico.

The problems with Klinsmann’s Starting XIs don’t stop with the center backs or the defensive midfielders, there are also a lot of question marks about the preferred outside backs and the preferred line of three attacking midfielders.

Whereas Klinsmann will probably start Donovan, Dempsey, and Fabian Johnson as a line of three attacking midfielders, the USMNT might be better off to start Diskerud as a playmaker to provide the link between the defensive midfielders and players like Donovan, Dempsey, and Altidore who are focused on scoring or getting into the penalty box to disrupt the defense.

Despite the United States’ winning streak, Klinsmann might be wise to make some adjustments to his preferred Starting XI, and these adjustments are all things that Klinsmann has already used with success. Klinsmann has used Cameron and Bradley together with success. Klinsmann has used Fabian Johnson over DaMarcus Beasley as a left back with success, and Klinsmann has seen the missing creative element that Diskerud brings to the national team.

The coach of the United States has made it clear that Beasley is his first-choice left back and that Fabian Johnson is his first-choice left winger, but a left back is just as much a left winger as he is a defender covering the left flank.

Starting Fabian Johnson at left back allows him to provide better defense that Beasley can provide, and it also allows him to provide better attacking play out wide than Beasley can provide. It is the job of the defensive midfielders to cover for outside backs when they make marauding runs into the attack.

The United States can enjoy Fabian Johnson’s attacking skills even when he is used as a left back, and this is in fact the way that the best teams in the world implement width into their attacks.

World Soccer Source views the right back situation as problematic because both Michael Orozco and Geoff Cameron are likely more useful in positions other than the right back position, but both players are faster and more technically-skilled than Parkhurst. Both players are also better defenders.

Furthermore, Cameron’s best position is the midfield destroyer role, as opposed to the center back role because he can use his technical ability and athleticism more in the midfield than he can having to back pedal as a center back where he is at the mercy of through balls and chips being played past him with little to no defensive support.

Taking all of these factors into consideration, World Soccer Source would like to see the USMNT use the following Starting XI below:

Tim HOWARD; Michael PARKHURST, Michael OROZCO, John Anthony BROOKS, Fabian JOHNSON; Geoff CAMERON, Michael BRADLEY; Landon DONOVAN, Mix DISKERUD, Clint DEMPSEY; Jozy ALTIDORE (STILL SLIGHTLY INJURED?) / Aron JÓHANNSSON. 

 

WHO SHOULD THE USMNT START VS. COSTA RICA?

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Landon Donovan (left), Herculez Gomez (center), and Joe Corona (right) have all earned the start against Costa Rica. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Landon Donovan (left), Herculez Gomez (center), and Joe Corona (right) have all earned the start against Costa Rica. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

 

As Eric Wynalda remarked while commentating for Fox during the USA versus Cuba game, nobody knows what Jürgen Klinsmann is thinking or going to do.

 

Klinsmann made a statement where he said that Costa Rica presented the first real test for the USMNT, and that’s an accurate statement.

 

In all fairness to Cuba, Cuba showed how skilled and athletic players can score on the U.S. at any time, and José Ciprian showed this with an outstanding side-volleyed golazo against the United States Men’s National Team.

 

Looking at the defenders, the midfielders, and the forwards or forward, Klinsmann has a variety of options at his disposal, and despite some of his bizarre formations before the Gold Cup, Klinsmann has been fielding Gold Cup starting line-ups that make sense.

 

Additionally, Klinsmann is making the correct substitutions when he sees a need to correct something.

 

Overlooking some of his roster omissions like Perry Kitchen, Klinsmann has been fielding starting line-ups that tactically make sense, and one constant has been the inclusion of Kyle Beckerman in the starting line-up, as he is the only midfield destroyer on the roster.

 

Furthermore, Beckerman isn’t a more dynamic defensive midfielder like Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones, or Geoff Cameron.

 

All three of these defensive midfielders have the athleticism to play as midfield destroyers while still picking their opportunities to go forward.

 

On the other hand, Beckerman doesn’t have the endurance or speed to run as much or as fast as Jones, Bradley, and Cameron, which forces Beckerman to conserve his energy by always playing very deep.

 

Even when Bradley, Jones, and Cameron play as the midfield destroyer, they certainly cover much more territory, even when they restrict themselves to just patrolling the very back of the midfield

 

Unless Klinsmann elects to start Mix Diskerud and Stuart Holden together in order to allow two people to fulfill the extreme running endurance that other American defensive midfielders can deliver on their own, then Beckerman will be starting as a midfield destroyer with Holden, Diskerud, or both supporting him.

 

Compared to Holden and Diskerud who are really more attacking midfielders, Cameron, Bradley, and Jones are like apex predators who can run endlessly and deliver the running necessary to play as a midfield destroyer for the full 90 minutes.

 

While Klinsmann has been using Bradley, Jones, and Cameron in two-man tandems, all three of those players can run the entire game in order to play defense as well as being some of the main protagonists in the passing play of the USMNT’s midfield.

 

Looking at who Klinsmann will start and who Klinsmann should start, it seems obvious that Nick Rimando will be starting in goal with DaMarcus Beasley playing as a left back.

 

Beasley as a right back with Edgar Castillo as a left back would be a real curveball, so it seems likely that Klinsmann will start Michael Parkhurst at right back with DaMarcus Beasley at left back.

 

At center back, Michael Orozco Fiscal is playing very well, and he looks to be more skilled and quicker than both Clarence Goodson and Oguchi Onyewu.

 

Klinsmann will likely start Orozco with Goodson, but it would be interesting to see if Klinsmann decided that he needed Parkhurst and Orozco as the center backs against a Costa Rican side that is quite frankly much better than Belize or Cuba.

 

In all likelihood, Klinsmann’s back four will be Parkhurst, Orozco, Goodson, and Beasley, but a back four of Beltran, Parkhurst, Orozco, and Beasley might just be a better option as the competition in the Gold Cup goes up.

 

In front of the defensive back four, Klinsmann will likely start Beckerman, and it will be interesting to see if he elects to start a diamond midfield formation of Beckerman playing as a destroyer with Holden and Diskerud just in front of him as essentially attacking midfielders playing like a tandem of box-to-box midfielders.

 

This set-up would protect Beckerman from being too exposed to being beaten by quicker opponents as often, and it would allow the American midfield to have two midfielders in Holden and Diskerud who can maintain possession and pose a real threat going forward.

 

In the diamond midfield formation, Corona could play as the tip of the diamond as a central attacking midfielder, trequartista, enganche, meia-armador, or any other synonymous term one wishes to use to describe the playmaker playing behind the strikers.

 

Landon Donovan and Herculez Gomez could likely start in front of the diamond midfield formation with Donovan as the second striker, or perhaps Klinsmann will elect to use a different formation all together.

 

Therefore, the coach of the USMNT has many options against Costa Rica.

 

He can start Beckerman with Holden or Diskerud deeper in the midfield with a line of three attacking midfielders in front of them, or he could elect to use the diamond formation discussed above.

 

Below are three options that Klinsmann might employ, but it should be noted that Klinsmann probably has several others up his sleeve:

 

Rimando; Parkhurst, Orozco, Goodson, Beasley; Beckerman, Holden; Corona, Diskerud, Donovan; Gomez

 

Rimando; Parkhurst, Onyewu, Orozco, Beasley; Beckerman; Holden, Diskerud; Corona; Gomez, Donovan.

 

Rimando; Beltran, Parkhurst, Orozco, Beasley; Beckerman, Diskerud; Corona, Holden, Donovan; Gomez.

 

World Soccer Source would like to see an entirely different option than the three proposed above.

 

The World Soccer Source option eliminates Beckerman from the starting line-up and tasks Diskerud and Holden with sharing the work load to fulfill the defensive duties of Beckerman, while bringing more athleticism and more creative and dynamic midfield play that is both able to keep possession and unlock the Costa Rican defense from a deeper role or when one of the pair advances forward more to attack.

 

Shea had an off-game against Cuba, but the talent, speed, size, and the willingness to attack are strong qualities in Shea’s game.

 

World Soccer Source is willing to write off a performance as bad as Shea’s against Cuba as just a bad outing characterized by reluctant play, crosses sailed over the goal and out of bounds, and some hesitancy to control one cross-field pass soon enough, which Eric Wynalda discussed during Fox’s broadcast.

 

Shea started to improve a little bit toward the end of the first half, and World Soccer Source supports using a weapon like Shea against the strongest opponent the USMNT has faced in this tournament so far, even if Shea had a bad game against Cuba. When he’s on his game Shea disrupts defenses and poses a threat to opponents.

 

Therefore, World Soccer Source proposes using the following Starting XI against Costa Rica:

Rimando; Beltran, Parkhurst, Orozco, Beasley; Holden, Diskerud; Donovan, Corona, Shea; Gomez.

 

On a final note, it’s unclear whether Klinsmann views Chris Wondolowski’s recent string of goals as a reason to start him over Gomez, or if he views Wondolowski’s nose for goal as a good option to save for the final 20 minutes of the game, as Eric Wynalda suggested on the air for Fox during the U.S.’ game against Cuba.